A Powerful Demonstration of Enlightened Leadership

Jonette and I recently had the pleasure of addressing a group of Starbucks store managers and assistant managers in the Denver district managed by Kent Lansville. Before we began discussing “Leadership Made Simple,” which they had all read, Kent kicked off the meeting in an impressive way. He stood up and acknowledged about eight or nine managers for specific ways they had contributed to the team’s effectiveness since the last district meeting. He handed each of them nice, hand written cards as part of the acknowledgement. That had a very energizing and honoring effect on the Starbucks group, and we were impressed. That, however, was just the beginning…

Once Kent was finished, another manager stood up and began acknowledging his peer partners and his boss. It wasn’t long before Jonette and I realized that all the managers were going to take time to acknowledge their teammates. And these were acknowledgements for very specific actions and behaviors. We were blown away at their process – even though we had encouraged tens of thousands of managers to do exactly that over the last 19 years. NEVER had we seen any team implement it more genuinely and effectively than Kent’s Starbucks team.

The first thirty minutes of the meeting was this process, and I cannot think of any possible way that 30 minutes could have been better utilized. The energy and spirit in the room was extraordinary! Everyone there felt truly honored for their contributions and for who they were. If they had had a challenging situation with which to deal, they were now optimally prepared to do so.

That meeting opening process perfectly prepared the space for the discussion of our book. The context for the discussion completely changed and became how the essence of “Leadership Made Simple” is the way to maintain the awesome Starbuck’s culture while it grows very rapidly. The culture we experienced in that meeting – multiplied thousands of times and focused toward millions of customers, has the opportunity of making a real difference in the world!

Smiling from ear to ear,

Ed Oakley …and we invite your comments!

[tags]leadership, starbucks, leadership skills[/tags]